Teaching English – Tutor Blog

Beyond the Ted Talk: 8 Additional Resources to Get Students Speaking

Talene — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 11:13:46 +0000

TED Talks are marvelous little English teaching gems. They’re ideal for exposing students to new vocabulary, regional accents, and grammar in use. Plus, they help us tutors generate novel conversation topics during Fluentify sessions.

While we all love them dearly, they’re not a one-size-fits-all follow-up activity. Some of my students make far more progress using other resources. Here’s a little bit about who those students are and where they can find the TED Talk alternatives that best suit their needs.

1. THE FALSE BEGINNER: This student has an A1-ish level of English. Every now and then, a student is capable of preliminary communication, but also definitely not ready for a 30 minute lecture about education systems, architecture, or microfinance. Surely, beginner students who ask for clarification on questions like “Where do you work?” or “What are your hobbies?” need repetition. It’s easy to forget that they may also benefit from visual scaffolding. I recommend creating your own A1 content using Unsplash. This website offers free, searchable, visually compelling images that are great for providing false beginners with context. A photo like the one below can help bring “What do you usually eat for breakfast?” to life!

2. THE ALMOST THERE BUT NOT QUITE STUDENT: This student has a high A2, low B1 level of English. While the occasional TED Talk poses a welcomed challenge, a new TED Talk every week could be slightly overwhelming. You don’t want to lower your student’s morale by assigning grueling follow-up activities. To keep your intermediate students motivated with smaller, more manageable tasks, check out BBC’s Lingohack for A2s and 6 Minute English for B1s. BBC scaffolds content really nicely for non-native speakers, so these resources are great for students who can nearly handle TED Talks, but just want a little extra support.

3. THE “REAL PEOPLE DON’T TALK LIKE THAT” STUDENT: This student has a B2+ level of English. Since TED Talks are public lectures, presentations are usually organized coherently and accessibly. In the real world, people mumble; people speak with false starts and use, like, all kinds of, um, fillers. This student usually has considerable exposure to native English speaking friends or colleagues, and realizes that people in day-to-day life aren’t quite as articulate as the average TED presenter. For students who are looking for listening comprehension practice in more colloquial, casual contexts – podcasts, podcasts, podcasts! I like This American Life and Freakonomics, but it’s a wide world out there so let your student explore.

4. THE CURIOUS STUDENT: This student adores TED Talks, but wants to keep things interesting and try something new. Send this advanced student to The Atlantic for thought-provoking videos, often rich in vocabulary and complex sentence structure.

5. THE YOUNG (OR YOUNG AT HEART) STUDENT: Most primary and middle school students, once they’re comfortable, are naturally chatty so when you touch on something they’re into, it’s usually difficult to get in a word after that! However, after you’ve sufficiently covered the familiar (school subjects, friends, family, after-school activities, etc.) Pixar Short Films are amazing for kid-friendly unfamiliar topics. Since the Cambridge PET has a photo description task, Highlights is another great image resource that’s perfect for secretly preparing kids for standardized tests under the guise of fun!

Have more “Beyond the TED Talk” resource ideas? Post them below!

Phrases to talk about your holiday

Iwka J — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 15:56:29 +0000

In Italy, everyone goes on holidays in August. As you may have noticed, there may not be that many students booking sessions as most of them are either on the beach, in the mountains or in their country home somewhere in the beautiful Italian countryside. While all of the above-mentioned places are famous for spectacular landscapes and delicious food, they are not your best bet if you’re looking for a solid internet connection!

We all know, however, that all good things come to an end, and our students will eventually come back! They will then want to tell you all about the places they visited in Italy, the food they ate and the wine they drank.

Why don’t you get ready for your first after-summer session with this article: “The 60 Best Holidays in Italy”? It may also inspire you to make Italy your next holiday destination!

The article can be a great starting point for a discussion about places to visit in Italy and things to do. Be aware that students may get really emotional especially if they disagree with what they read in the article

You may go through some parts of the article during your session or you may ask your student to read it before the scheduled lesson. Whatever you decide to do, you are guaranteed to have a fun lesson!

Here is some vocabulary I picked from the text but you can choose other expressions depending on the level of your student, or you can play with opposites and synonyms.

by far	rich regional variety	to hold sway
easily accessible	to bear in mind	charm
overstated	wary	dwellings
wilderness	unspoilt	cultural heritage
mountain trails	sublime sand	quaint coastal towns

There are other articles related to the one attached here, including “Ordering coffee in Italy – 10 Commandments”, “Top 10 food and wine holidays” or “Top 10 art and culture holidays”.

Have fun!

Idioms to talk about time

Iwka J — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 13:40:07 +0000

Your students probably find it hard to remember new vocabulary. At school they were usually asked to learn lists of new expressions by heart and usually forgot them all after an exam.

Here is an example of how to learn vocabulary putting it in context or in a story. Try it out with your students! I am sure they will like it!

TIME IS MONEY

Time, they say, is money. Time is of the essence. No doubt, there is something to it. We all repeat it time and again, from time immemorial. There was a time when people were not pressed for time. They had time to spare and enjoyed time out. Now, many of us have to work against time. Our bosses tell us to do things in no time. We do overtime all the time. They say we have to work unsocial hours to keep up with the times. And times, they say, are hard. We may tell them that we will do all in good time because nine times out of ten haste makes waste. We may tell them “one thing at a time”, but instead of listening to us, they will give us a hard time. We may even be asked to take the minutes of an important meeting and if we refuse saying that we have no time, we will hear time after time one short sentence: “Make time!” The pressure is unbearable. We do not while away time and we never do things to kill time. We do not want to be behind the times and we try not to do things at the eleventh hour. We try to save time on every possible occasion. Does it mean we have a good time? Far from it. We become angry and, in time, we may commit a crime. But this will not solve our time problem because in prison we will have to do time.

Here is a list of time-related idioms and expressions used in the text:

time is of the essence

time and again

from time immemorial

there was a time

to be pressed for time

to have time to spare

time out

to work against time

to do things in no time

to do overtime

to keep up with the times

all in good time

nine times out of ten

haste makes waste

one thing at a time

to give somebody a hard time

to take the minutes

time after time

to make time

to be behind the times

at the eleventh hour

to have a good time

in time

to do time

Some conversation questions to practice the target language:

Does your company keep up with the times?
Do you tend to do things at the eleventh hour or do you always finish your projects in time?
Are you often asked to do overtime?
Do you have a lot of time to spare?
Are you a multi-tasker or do you prefer to do one thing at a time?
Did you have a good time last weekend?
Do you have a lot of deadlines to meet and feel pressed for time at the moment?
Nine times out of ten, Italians arrive late at meetings. Do you agree?

Introduction phrases for beginner students

Katie — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 10:23:29 +0000

Do you ever have a beginner student that you really struggle with during your first or first couple of sessions? Fear no more! This article was designed to help you manage these sessions as easily as possible (thanks for the idea @Jo!).

The attached PDF will help you structure your first sessions with a new beginner student by guiding you through some introduction sentences, allowing you to help the student while teaching them any new, relevant vocabulary.

Even after a first session, this document can be used to explore vocabulary, terms, and concepts related to each of the four sections, which include Work, Family, School, and Home.

Check out the document/ download the attachment and save it in a safe space so that you can pull it out during your next struggle sessions!

Beginner Students- Introduction

Phrases for the end of a meeting

Katie — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 10:44:24 +0000

Looking for an upper intermediate-level business English conversation lesson? This article will work- it goes through four general guidelines for closing any kind of meeting effectively.

You can check out the article here → 4 Things You Should Do at the End of Every Meeting

After reading through the article with your student, you can use these discussion questions to help the class flow smoothly:

Do you have meetings often at work?
Who do you have your meetings with?
Where do you usually have meetings?
Do you think your meetings are effective?
How could you improve the meetings that you participate in?
How could the meeting moderators at your company improve the meetings they lead?

And here are some vocabulary/ phrases that you might want to review with your student:

‘colossal waste of time’	twists/ turns	‘keep the meeting on track’
To wrap up	meeting recap	to be on the same page
sit-down	to end up	‘leave people to their own devices’
groan	to handle something	‘get something in writing’
‘you wouldn’t mind’	follow-through	breakdown
‘nothing to show for it’	to address (something)	to claim ignorance

Any other interesting discussion questions you would use? Comment them below!

10 phrases to speak about escaping reality and relaxation

Katie — Wed, 15 Feb 2017 11:41:23 +0000

Looking for an intermediate-level general conversation lesson? This article is perfect- it goes through 10 different “relaxation” activities and how to make the most out of each of them.

You can check out the article here → 10 Ways to Escape Reality and Relax

After reading through the article with your student, you can use these discussion questions to help the class flow smoothly:

Do you find time during the week to relax?
What is your favorite way to relax?
In your opinion, what is the most relaxing activity?
Do any of the activities from the article not seem relaxing to you?
If you had more time to relax, what would you do?
How can you make more time for relaxation?

And here are some vocabulary/ phrases that you might want to review with your student:

deluge	To dabble (dabbling)	emulation
compelling	‘literally can’t…’	intimidating
‘social pressure ‘	to push yourself	to wager
vicariously	to brush up on	to wrestle with
heck	to have an urge	to take up (something)
rudimentary	burnout	‘chances are’

Any other interesting discussion questions you would use? Comment them below!

7 tech issues you might encounter on Fluentify (and how to solve them)

Katie — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 11:40:57 +0000

The occasional technical issue is inevitable as an online tutor – whether it’s your first session or your 100th session here is your perfect troubleshooting guide.

Updated in June 2019 with the help of Fluentify tutor Steve Mol.

1. The student can’t connect at the beginning of the session

Reason one: High PING

If the student’s ping is higher than 500 it means that they have a weak connection.

This can lead to a choppy, frozen, or disconnected video call.

The first solution to try

Ask the student to refresh the page.

The second solution to try

Ask the student to close any other programs or windows/tabs that they have open. Next ask them to close all Chrome tabs and reopen and reconnect to the session.

The third solution to try

If you’ve already tried to close everything and refresh a few times and the video quality isn’t any stronger, then at this point you can ask your student if he/she would be willing to switch to Zoom.

Zoom is extremely easy to use and you don’t need to share your contact details with the students, and also your students don’t need to download the app to join the call. Make sure YOU install Zoom on your computer as a back-up.

The reason why we recommend Zoom is that it doesn’t require sharing your personal details with the student (such as, Skype ID) as exchanging e-mail address, phone number etc is against our Terms and Conditions.

Reason two: The student isn’t using Google Chrome

The Fluentify platform is designed specifically for use with Chrome. If your student is experiencing connection problems ask them which browser they are using. If they are using another browser, ask them to switch to Chrome.This should solve your connection issues.

Reason three: The student is using a tablet or a phone

First, make sure the student is using the Fluentify App (Fluentify Live) if using an Apple device because it is usually impossible to connect via Chrome.

If the student is using a non-Apple device (i.e. Android), he/she should be able to access Fluentify via the Chrome app.

While Fluentify tends to work pretty well via mobile, you are more likely to experience connection issues when not using a computer. Inform your student of this and recommend that he/she try to use a computer for the best possible quality session. If the student can’t switch, try to complete the session as much as possible. You might need to refresh from your end often and the student may have to close the app and login again if you experience more issues.

NOTE: English Score students do not have access to the app. They can log in to Fluentify through Chrome on a mobile device but the quality of the experience will be much poorer so it’s highly recommended that all users connect to Fluentify on their computers.

2.You can’t hear the student or vice versa

This is usually a simple issue of microphone connection.

Solution one

The person with the microphone issue should close Chrome and reopen. This will solve the issue 99% of the time.

Solution two

If it still doesn’t work, the person should go into their personal computer settings and check for the ‘sound’ options to make sure that the ‘output’ sound is connected to the headphones rather than internal microphone (or vice versa if the student isn’t using headphones).

Solution three

It could also be a headphone problem – try unplugging and plugging in headphones to see if there is a change. Some headphones have a physical mute button on the cord. Be sure it is not muted!

If none of these things work, try to switch to Zoom to see if the audio works there.

3. You can hear the student but can’t see them

This is usually a connection issue from one side.

Solution one

Check the PING numbers and follow the steps above. Stay calm and patient. Sometimes you’ll be working with students who may not be very tech savvy, so make sure to explain slowly and clearly how to complete the steps above.

When there are major issues or you can’t complete the session at all, you can switch to Zoom or Skype. However, you must always write to the customer service (via the chat box or at hello@fluentify.com) and leave a note about the session time, student + ID, and what happened.

Solution two

Some cameras have a privacy shield — a physical cover that prevents the camera from working properly. Ask the student if the camera has a cover and if so, it is open.

Solution three

If you see something, but not the student, they may be using the wrong camera! Microsoft Surface computers are notorious for this.

If this happens, have the student click the “Settings” button in the video conference screen (it looks like a gear). Then, ask them to make sure they can see themselves in the camera window. If they have more than one camera, there will be a list they can choose from.

Once they can see themselves, they need to click “Update” and then “Return to session” for the change to take effect.

4. You have finished one session but can’t open the next one

Solution

A simple ‘refresh’ of your session page will bring you directly to your next session.

When a tutor closes a session, it takes a few seconds for the feedback popup to load. Then if you have another session directly after, you have to wait another few seconds for the ‘go to your session’ popup, and this all adds up to at least 30 seconds of lost time between sessions. However, if you wait until the timer gets past the end of the session (00:30:01 or later for a single session, 01:00:01 or later for a back-to-back session) and then hit ‘refresh’, you will be automatically transferred to your next session.

5. Someone starts hearing their voice echo

Solution

The OTHER person needs to refresh. I’m sure it has happened in the past that out of nowhere, either you or your student can hear a terrible echo of their own voice. Here’s a trick- it’s not the echoing person that has to refresh, but the non-echo person. The echo they hear is their voice coming back from your computer (or vice versa). So the next time your student complains of an echo, make sure that YOU do a quick refresh and it should all be fine.

6. Open articles, videos, other resources in another WINDOW rather than a tab

We all know that our PINGS can be very sensitive… you click on a link to a document or article and all of a sudden your PING shoots up to 5000! In the future, open up that resource in another window rather than in a tab next to your Fluentify session. When you do this, it affects your internet connection much less and you are able to use the resource while working with your student simultaneously.

7. The picture of me (or the clock, or student information) is blocking my view.

Solution

In the upper left corner of the block, there is a paddle lock. Click on it so that it ‘unlocks’. Then, stop moving your mouse. The block will disappear momentarily.
If you move your mouse over the browser, all hidden blocks will reappear for a moment.
To return your screen to normal, simply “lock” the paddle lock by clicking on it again.

How much bandwidth do you need to have a smooth session on Fluentify? By Steve M.

Internet service providers (ISPs) quote numbers like 10Mbps (10 million bits per second) or 25Mbps when they sell a consumer bandwidth. Now here are some important things to realize about those numbers:

Download speed vs. upload speed

First, they’re quoting you the download speed (the speed at which data will go from their server to your computer). This does not automatically mean you’ll get the same upload speed, (the speed at which data goes from your computer to their server).For YouTube, you don’t need to care about upload speed. But, when tutoring on Fluentify you’re sending video as well as receiving it, so you do need to be concerned about your upload speed.

For DSL and Cable connections, the upload speed is generally 10%-20% of the download speed. If your download speed is, say, 25Mbps, your upload speed on a DSL is probably going to be 3Mbps to 5Mbps. For Fibre connections, the speeds are generally the same both ways, so Fiber is definitely a much better option.

You won’t get all the speed that ISPs promise

Another problem: The speeds they quote you are not the speeds they promise. Generally, they only promise about 5%-10% of your quoted speed, which means that there probably will be times you get only 3Mbps on your 25Mbps connection. (Again, Fiber usually fares better than DSL or Cable.)Most of the time, however, you should get 50% (DSL or Cable) to 90% (Fiber) of your quoted speed.

Factoring in third party servers

And there’s more…These speeds are only the speed at which your data goes between you and your ISP’s Server. Your connection speed to Fluentify’s servers, Skype’s servers, or Zoom’s servers is going to be far less. Generally, you’ll lose 50%-70% of your speed when you measure to the other end.

How much bandwidth do you need?

Good video over WebRTC will take about 200Kbps, or 0.2Mbps at a minimum, according to specifications. Factor in 10 times that amount for a clean, stable connection.

Final thoughts

So, you can see how difficult it is to say what is “good.” If you have a 25Mbps DSL, you’ll probably usually get about 15Mbps to your ISP’s server, but that will drop to about 3Mbps by the time you get all the way through the Internet. With a need for 2Mbps for a relatively stable WebRTC connection, you really don’t have much margin for error.

Is it possible to have these conferences with less? Of course – most of our students have less. But the less bandwidth you have, the more problems you’ll have maintaining a good connection. As a professional tutor, 25Mbps is probably a minimum quoted connection speed to have. At that level, most likely any anomalies you have during your sessions will be caused on the student’s end.

The Best Business Idiom Resources

Katie — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 20:59:58 +0000

A large portion of our students come to us saying that they “work in an international environment and want to improve business English.” As vague as that may be, we have become skilled in developing stellar business English programs by incorporating email writing, public speaking, conference call, general meeting, and negotiation lessons that allow students to take their careers to the next step, or simply give a coherent presentation.

Then there are some of these “business English” skills that our students either love or hate. Here, we’re talking about the famous “business idioms.” In this article, I wanted to share some of my favorite business idiom links that you can use when working with your students. This way, the next time your student requests a “business English” program, you already have some interesting and engaging materials to start off on the right foot.

1. Business English Resources

In addition to an extensive list of idioms with a definition and an example, this website also has tons of resources including lesson plans, homework activities, and grammar explanations for all your business English needs.

2. 52 Most Common Business Idioms from the NYT

This article has a solid list of idioms with example sentences that come directly from New York Times articles making it a useful and relevant list.

3. 15 Business English Idioms

This visually pleasing list full of images and explanations comes from MyEnglishTeacher, which is another great site full of teaching tips and resources.

4. The Idiom List

While this list is not as pretty as the last, it includes some more particular idioms are aren’t always included on standard lists but that our students are likely to hear in various business settings.

5. TEFLtastic Idiom Worksheets

This site has a bunch of activities/worksheets you can do with your students to review common business English idioms.

These are just a few of the endless ESL resources out there. If anyone has any of their favorite “business idioms” websites, please feel free to share them in the comments!